Dust's Big Day
by lord of the land of fire
Summary: An adventurer named Dust gets the chance of a lifetime! He gets to join a party with three beautiful and high powered girls. What could possibly go wrong?


**Author's Note: **In volume 2 of the Konosuba light novels there is a section where Kazuma trades teams with an adventurer by the name of Dust. It is my favorite part of that book and told from Kazuma's POV. I thought it would be fun to write a one-shot showing things from the other side.

XXX

"Say that again!"

Dust grinned. "I'll say it as many times as you want. You're dead weight and dragging your team down."

The guy in the green cape turned red faced and didn't say anything. His name was Kazuma. He was a low level adventurer with crappy gear who was at the guild board looking for a simple porter job. Porters just carried equipment and luggage for adventurers on a quest in order for them to not get tired out before any fighting. Porters weren't expected to fight except in an emergency. That would have looked like about the right kind of job for a lowly adventurer like him. Dust wouldn't have commented if it weren't for one thing.

Three really cute girls walked up from behind the guy and spoke.

"Don't let it bother you, Kazuma," a brunette archwizard said.

"He's drunk, ignore him," a stacked blonde crusader said.

"He's obviously just jealous because you get to hang out with three amazing and wonderful girls. Honestly though, who could blame him?" A blue haired archpriestess said.

For some reason Kazuma gave a strangled grunt and glared at the priestess when he heard that. No doubt he was embarrassed to be reminded how outclassed he was by his party members. 'Adventurer' was considered the lowest and most basic job title in the guild. Most either ended up getting civilian work or just became support for other stronger job holders.

Dust shook his head and laughed. "Hey, aren't you going to say anything? I mean doesn't it hurt your pride as a man to rely on these three amazing ladies to carry you? You're obviously dead weight to them." The three members of his party laughed too.

Kazuma's face turned red but he didn't say anything.

"I mean are you trying to build a harem or something? Must be nice to get to take it easy all the time and not have to struggle." He lifted his mug of ale and took a sip. "Tell you what, how about we trade parties and you see-" He couldn't get another word out before the guy screamed out at the top of his lungs.

"HELL, YEAH I'LL TRADE!"

The shout was so loud and angry it brought a startled silence to the entire guild hall and all eyes turned in their direction.

Dust was cut off and as surprised by the reaction as anyone else. He'd just been having a little bit of fun with the guy. It wasn't as if he was being serious. He hadn't expected to get such a furious reply and Kazuma wasn't done.

"Amazing ladies?!" He started waving his arm wildly at his three teammates. "Where?! Where are these amazing ladies?! I don't see any! I just see these three idiots!"

"**Eh**?" All three girls pointed at themselves and looked shocked.

Kazuma suddenly grabbed Dust by his collar and yanked him to his feet. "Do you have any idea how useless they are or how much they've made me suffer?!"

Dust swallowed and put his hands out. Okay this was _not _what he'd wanted. He'd just been wanting to have a little bit of fun with the guy, that's all. He hadn't expected to start a brawl with someone in the guild first thing it the morning.

"Oh, hey, sorry. I'm a little drunk and I was just kidding. No need to be mad. But come on, can you blame me? I'd give anything to be in a party like yours, even for just one day."

"**Huh**?" His three party members said in unison.

Kazuma's eyes narrowed and he sported a savage grin. "Okay, fine, let's trade parties for the day."

Dust blinked. "You serious?"

The blue haired archpriestess walked up to them looking nervous. "Ah, Kazuma, don't we get a say in this?"

"No!" Kazuma's grin got wider. "What do you say?"

Staring into that guy's face Dust's immediate instinct was to run. He shook it off. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. There was no way he could turn it down. "Yeah, let's do it. Let's trade parties."

XXX

Dust was a level 40 adventurer whose class was, 'warrior.' He was skilled with the sword and even better with the spear. All his stats were above average including strength, intelligence, agility, and constitution. His one and only bad stat was his luck which was absolute crap. Fortunately, luck wasn't vital for an adventurer. He had a lot of experience and knew how to follow orders, he would be an asset to almost any adventuring party. He fought hard and earned his place.

But Dust didn't really want to have to work so hard all the time. His dream was to get a share of a really big treasure, then retire to relax and just enjoy life. Unfortunately, the party he was currently in was strictly average. They could safely handle most low and mid range jobs, and he could make a decent enough living. But they weren't strong enough to go after the truly dangerous missions with huge payouts. That meant he was stuck grinding and risking his life just to get by.

Now though… now he was in a party with three upper class beauties who were not only powerful but hot! If he could just win them over they'd be his key to riches and the good life! All he needed to do was show them he was a way better choice as the fourth party member than that Kazuma guy. Piece of cake!

XXX

"Wha... what just happened?" The archwizard looked and sounded a bit dazed.

"Kazuma abandoned us because he thinks we're useless," the crusader said. For some reason she sounded pleased and was twisting from side to side.

"Hey! It's just for one day!" The archpriestess said loudly. "There's no way that stupid neet could manage without me to watch out for him. I'm sure he'll come back here begging and crying for us to take him back! Let's just do an amazing mission and remind him how awesome we are!"

The other two nodded.

This was the moment when Dust approached them. He had a sweet smile and was putting out all the charm he could muster. "Ladies, please let me introduce myself to you. My name is Dust and I'm a warrior. I look forward to working with you and hope to show you I'm a dependable and strong teammate."

The girls all looked at him with blank expressions.

"Uhm, please take care of me."

The archwizard stepped forward and slammed her staff into the floor while planting her right foot onto a chair. "I am Megumin! Greatest mage of the Crimson Demon clan! Fear not! With the vast power at my disposal no enemy can stand against us!"

Crimson demon mages were legendary for their high intelligence and ability to cast advanced magic. Rin, the magic user in his old party, could only cast intermediate spells and tended to panic when things got hairy.

Next the blonde stepped forward. She was much less ostentatious and introduced herself in a calm and noble manner. "I am called Darkness and am a crusader. You can count on me to put my body on the line to protect you. No matter how dangerous, savage, cruel, or sexually perverted the foe may be I promise to rush forward without hesitation."

Taylor was a crusader too and the leader of his previous party. He was tough and good with his sword. But he had never been this eager to face danger.

Lastly the archpriestess stepped up. "I am the goddess of water, Aqua. Worshipped by the countless followers of the Axis cult and as powerful as I am gorgeous. Please consider yourself blessed to be in my service, even if it is for a short time."

Calling herself a goddess was a bit much, but healing magic was prized, and archpriests were few and far between. He could ignore a few minor eccentricities if it meant he'd finally be in a party with healing magic. This party was obviously on a whole different level than his old one.

"I am honored to work with all of you and hope we get along well."

Aqua gave him a smug look. "Well at least you appreciate how lucky you are. Okay then, let's go pick out a job to do."

XXX

The girls went over to the board to look at the jobs that were available.

"There is a nest of wyverns on top of Windsor's Peak. Get rid of them by any means necessary. Reward: 350,000 eris." Megumin was chuckling. "That's perfect for me! I'll wipe out the entire nest with just one spell!"

"An ogre has taken up residence on the edge of the swamp. Request for his extermination. Reward: 600,000 eris." Darkness said, her face blushing and a hint of eagerness in her voice. "Ogres are brutal monsters who are known to inflict all sort of horrific tortures on those they capture. As a crusader I feel it my duty to defeat this foul beast."

"You're thinking too small! THIS is the quest for us!" Aqua pointed excitedly to a mission that Dust had seen sitting on the board now for at least a year. "Destroy the black dragon Artaxas. Reward: 5,000,000 eris plus all the treasure within the dragon's lair. Just think how amazed Kazuma will be when he finds out we killed a nasty dragon! He'll be on his knees _begging_ us to let him back into the party!"

Just hearing talk of going after the black dread made Dust's knees start to shake. That monster had slaughtered at least a dozen high ranking parties. Yep, these ladies were definitely on a whole different level than him.

"Uh, ladies? While I don't doubt you could succeed at any of those jobs I think they'd all take more than a day. How about we begin with something simple instead?" He pointed to a request to remove a tribe of goblins that had taken up residence nearby. The reward for it was 100,000 eris.

The girls all looked at him.

"Kazuma would always tell us we couldn't do these kind of quests too," Megumin said.

Darkness ran up to him, clasped her hands and leaned in. "Are you going to yell at us and call us fools?!"

He felt his heart race and he took a quick step back. "What? No! I would never say that!"

"Oh… how very disappointing."

"What? It's just that I'm not as powerful as the three of you and I thought we should start out on something simpler where I could be of use to you. And something that could be done in one day." He had deliberately used the term 'start' as he hoped they would ask him to remain and replace the much weaker Kazuma.

"I see," Aqua said with a laugh. "You think it would be too hard for you and you wouldn't be able to keep up. All right, we'll do something easy. But you better appreciate it. You have to carry all our stuff and when we get back you have to buy me as much booze as I want as thanks for my being so understanding. You also have to tell everyone how awesome I was and praise me like the goddess I am."

"Uhm, okay I guess." He didn't like suddenly being reduced to a porter. In his old squad everyone carried their own gear. He'd also seen Aqua get plastered a few times. The reward wasn't that big and he expected most of it would be spent on booze for her. Still it would be worth it so long as he had the chance to win them over today and secure a spot on this team.

As they headed out none of the girls thought to get a map to where the goblins were. The guild hall provided those free of charge for all listed missions. It must have slipped their mind, so he went and got it. As they left he turned to Darkness. She wasn't wearing any armor or weapons. All she had on was a plain black body suit and long skirt.

"Don't you need to get your equipment?"

Darkness waved it off. "It's fine. I'm confident in my defense and it's not like I'd be able to hit anything anyway."

"Huh? But what-" He didn't complete the thought as he didn't want to be rude to her, but what the actual hell? What kind of crusader didn't carry a sword to a mission?

XXX

He was carrying all their equipment like a damn pack mule. The girls were all loudly laughing and joking and carrying on as he brought up the rear. His old team liked to talk and relax on the way to a job too, but they also always paid attention to their environment just in case. These three were being totally oblivious. Was that normal for a high powered groups? Maybe they were just so amazing they didn't need to even worry about ambushes or random encounters. Maybe.

As they were walking he strolled up to the archwizard.

"Hey, Megumin. You know I don't have any idea what kind of spells you use. I don't doubt the fight will be a snap, but it's always good to know what your teammates can do."

The girl grinned up at him excitedly. "I provide all the offensive might for our party. I am the master of the most powerful, most amazing, most destructive form of magic known in all of existence. I obliterate our enemies with the might of explosion magic."

"Woah! Seriously? That's like the ultimate offensive spell. That's amazing!" His praise was not feigned. Rin was limited to support magic, which meant he and the others were stuck with all the real fighting. He'd never worked with a spell caster with real offensive magic, never mind actual explosion magic.

"Would you like a demonstration?" Megumin asked excitedly.

"You mean right now?"

"Absolutely!"

"Well, yeah, I'd love to see it!"

That was all she needed to hear as Megumin immediately began casting.

"Oh, blackness shrouded in night. Oh, forces of chaos and ruin. Heed my call! Unleash the fury of pure destruction on all those who would oppose me and reduce all to ash and cinder! Exploooooosion!"

Dust watched in amazement as circles of magic appeared in the air above a grass field. Then in the next instant the ground shook as he saw and heard the world ripped apart. What had been an ordinary grass field was now a smoking pit of blackened earth. He stared at it with his mouth hanging open. Now this was REAL magic! With someone like her able to cast these spells in combat how could they ever lose?

"That was amazing! I can't believe how-" Dust turned to where the girl had been casting. She was lying face down on the ground.

"Ah, that felt so good."

He ran over to her side. "Hey! Are you okay? What happened? Aqua! I think Megumin is hurt."

"You don't need to worry," Megumin said. "This is normal. Explosion uses up all my MP and leaves me drained. I'll be totally fine after I rest up. But, well, I will need you to carry me."

"Wait," he said trying to process what he'd just heard. "You used up _all_ your MP? For the entire day?"

"That's right."

"Then how are you going to help us with the goblins?"

"Ah, I'll cheer you on."

His jaw dropped. "Why would you waste all your mana on just one spell? And to blow up a field?! It didn't even help with the actual job."

She managed to turn her face so she could at least look at him. "Casting explosion magic is my one and only reason for existence it's what I love above everything else. I don't know any other spells. I refuse to cast anything other than explosion. So long as I can cast it I'm happy, I don't care what it's used on."

He stared down at the little maniac in a complete loss for words.

That was when he heard a bloodcurdling roar. Dust looked up and saw a massive black monster bigger than a lion bounding towards them out of the forest. It was a feline creature with long fangs.

"Oh crap! It's a rookie killer!" He immediately dumped all the gear on his back and grabbed his spear with both hands. Normally he preferred to fight with his sword, but now was no time to fool around. A rookie killer wasn't as dangerous as say an ogre, but as the name implied it was lethal against weak adventurers. "Hey, our mage is down. I think we should retreat."

"Foul beast! Do your worst to me I'm not afraid!" Darkness charged straight at the rookie killer alone.

"Darkness! What are you doing?!" The idiot wasn't even wearing any armor or carrying a sword. Was she deliberately sacrificing herself to let them escape? As he watched the monster began clawing at her and knocking her around like a rag doll. He fully expected to see her being ripped apart. She wasn't. By some miracle the claws didn't slice her open, but she was still being knocked around helplessly.

"Aqua, we need to work together to try and-"

"Stupid monster!" Aqua ignored him and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Know the righteous fury of a goddess. Tremble and quake as I deliver my heavenly judgement!" She ran straight at the monster the same way Darkness had a moment before. "God's blow!"

Aqua charged in and delivered a single punch that connected right on the giant cat's nose.

And did nothing.

Aqua froze as the rookie killer stopped batting around a now unconscious Darkness and instead focused his full attention on the blue haired priestess.

Aqua stared back at the monster. "Nice kitty."

CHOMP!

Aqua's entire head vanished into the rookie killer's mouth. Dust expected to see a fountain of blood and for the beast to settle down for a meal. He was just about to grab Megumin and run when he heard Aqua's muffled screams and her arms and legs jerking about like crazy. Whispering a quick prayer to Eris he hefted his spear and ran in to try and save his party members.

XXX

Eris must have been listening. By some miracle Dust managed to drive off the rookie killer long enough for them to run away. He carried Megumin while Aqua carried Darkness. With a wailing Aqua, unconscious Darkness, and oddly relaxed Megumin they eventually made it back alive to the guild hall.

Not ten minutes later Kazuma and his old party also arrived. They were all smiles and in much better shape. It turned out they'd taken the exact same quest, exterminated the goblins, and survived their own encounter with the rookie killer with no serious damage.

As soon as he saw Kazuma Dust related what had happened and asked him to switch back with him. These girls were all INSANE! How had they even survived up until now?

Kazuma heard him out and then gave him a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. "Don't let it get you down. Work hard and try your best with your new team."

"Please no! I'll beg down on my knees if you want! But let me go back!"

"Hey guys, good news! It looks like I can join your party after all!"

Dust's former teammates all cheered.

XXX

Kazuma did eventually agree to switch back.

After Dust got down on his knees and begged him in front of the entire guild. And handed over all his money. And agreed to show him every skill he knew.

Dust never complained about his team ever again.


End file.
